I swear, I had a very tough time choosing between that GMX Motion jacket vs the Dainese Razon perf jacket that I just ordered. I've heard nothing but great things about it. Only thing that swayed me back to Dainese was that I had several Dainese pants that I had wanted the jacket to mate to. I didn't want to sow the zipper on because I had tried that once unsuccessfully.

It seems sad that I developed preferences among the sizes of paperclips I used to replace the pulls that tore off the zippers on my Dainese jacket. Too big and they would bend, too small and they would get lost. An understated black jacket somehow bedazzled by Office Depot.

On the other hand, it's nice to know I'm not the only one facing this problem.

I've never owned Dianese gear but my buddy has the Alien and it looks really nice. Very refined looking in terms of all the seam work, material, etc. I do feel it's overpriced though because it's a fashion item. But if you can afford it why not?

I, on the other hand, have a very similar looking jacket made by a Canadian company called Velocity. It looks like the Alien without the branding and I got it for $350 out the door. The leather is also much more pliable and comfortable compared to the stiffer leather on the Alien (dunno if that's good or bad).

I've never owned Dianese gear but my buddy has the Alien and it looks really nice. Very refined looking in terms of all the seam work, material, etc. I do feel it's overpriced though because it's a fashion item. But if you can afford it why not?

I, on the other hand, have a very similar looking jacket made by a Canadian company called Velocity. It looks like the Alien without the branding and I got it for $350 out the door. The leather is also much more pliable and comfortable compared to the stiffer leather on the Alien (dunno if that's good or bad).

Motorcycle jacket leather is at least 1.3mm thick; fashion leather is more like 0.5mm. Hopefully you didn't get the latter.

I've never owned Dianese gear but my buddy has the Alien and it looks really nice. Very refined looking in terms of all the seam work, material, etc. I do feel it's overpriced though because it's a fashion item. But if you can afford it why not?

I, on the other hand, have a very similar looking jacket made by a Canadian company called Velocity. It looks like the Alien without the branding and I got it for $350 out the door. The leather is also much more pliable and comfortable compared to the stiffer leather on the Alien (dunno if that's good or bad).

Quote:

Originally Posted by FightingChance

Motorcycle jacket leather is at least 1.3mm thick; fashion leather is more like 0.5mm. Hopefully you didn't get the latter.

And considering Dainese is known for their presoftened leather, I would take a second look at that Velocity jacket before I assume it will offer the same level of protection.

I've never owned Dianese gear but my buddy has the Alien and it looks really nice. Very refined looking in terms of all the seam work, material, etc. I do feel it's overpriced though because it's a fashion item. But if you can afford it why not?

I, on the other hand, have a very similar looking jacket made by a Canadian company called Velocity. It looks like the Alien without the branding and I got it for $350 out the door. The leather is also much more pliable and comfortable compared to the stiffer leather on the Alien (dunno if that's good or bad).

For an extra 100-200, you could have gotten a nice Dainese jacket. Not knocking the Velocity stuff, it just really bothers me that he's copying the Dainese designs and passing them off as "original"...

Not that it matters, if the jacket is well constructed it will protect you, branding has nothing to do with it. Though, I would be very weary after reading some of the reviews about his original suits.

For an extra 100-200, you could have gotten a nice Dainese jacket. Not knocking the Velocity stuff, it just really bothers me that he's copying the Dainese designs and passing them off as "original"...

Not that it matters, if the jacket is well constructed it will protect you, branding has nothing to do with it. Though, I would be very weary after reading some of the reviews about his original suits.

LOL I remember that thread. I just wanted a basic leather riding jacket under $400 for cool weather and this fit the bill. Before that, I was either wearing mesh or my casual leather jacket so I'm confident this thing will protect better than those. For a suit I'll definitely shop elsewhere.

The quality of their leathers is good but their zippers suck IMO. I have pairs of levi's that have better zippers than my Laguna Seca jacket.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellomoto_25

Sincalirider you are right. The zippers are sub par compared to Astar. I prefer the semi locking zippers on my Astar Tech 1R suit over the metal pull tabs on the Dainese.

I've had Dainese gear for years. Never once have I had a problem with a zipper. I bought an A Stars GPR last month (sweet). It does not have locking zippers. It's the same as Dainese. You secure them with the tabs, no big deal. The $900 GP Tech has locking zippers in the cuffs, but not the chest. GP Plus, TZ-1, most have regular zippers.

Regarding prices, you can actually get a more reasonable price if you order from the online Italian moto-shops, but of course you will have to wait a considerable amount of time longer. Having some experience with overseas retailers, I wouldn't recommend it, but it is an option for those who want to try Dainese's higher end stuff.

I've done both, and I prefer just going to stateside stores, and it's still worth the premium imo. You'll feel it as soon as you have it in your hands.